


you're only human

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Comfortember 2020 [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27915796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Comfortember Day Eight – Lashing Out.Chimney has had a rough day, Maddie understands that but there's still no excuse to push her away.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Comfortember 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044117
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	you're only human

“Excuse you?”

Chimney knows he’s taken it too far when Maddie folds her arms over chest and looks at him with a raised brow and an incredulous look on her face. Taking his anger out on Maddie hadn’t been the intention when he’d walked through the door that day but she hadn’t let him have a moment’s peace since he’d gotten home and he was already irritable and exhausted. Plus, Maddie had the unfortunate responsibility of being the only person there.

It’s with a huff that he slams the glass down on the counter, “You heard me, just shut up.” If he had taken it too far before, he’s taken it one step further with the repeat of his words that had finally gotten his pregnant girlfriend to take a step away from him, her glare settling on him, making him increasingly uncomfortable by the second. The regret is almost immediate but clearly not enough to push down the bubbling anger he feels inside of him and really, he wishes he had known better than to come home when he was as stressed and anxious as he was.

“Okay, I know you’ve had a rough day—”

“A rough day?” Chimney is quick to interrupt her, arms thrown in the air as he lets out a bitter laugh. A rough day would be putting it nicely, it dampens down the absolute shit storm of a day he’s had to suffer through, the amount of humiliation and resentment he’s tried to keep hidden from his friends throughout the entirety of a twelve-hour shift.

Maddie is careful in her approach, taking a step towards him as one hand rests on her growing bump and his eyes flick down for just a second, trying to remind himself that life was good and he needed to stop giving one person the power to drag him down. Easier said than done, he supposes because now he’s right back to where he was at the beginning of the pregnancy, wondering how he could possibly be a good dad when he’d never had one of his own. “That was badly worded, I’m sorry—but don’t take it out on me. I’m your girlfriend and I love you and I’m carrying your child so a little bit of respect would be nice.”

Her words are softly spoken and he knows she’s right, that shouting at the woman he loves is no way to deal with the day but he can also tell from the deep breath she takes that she’s about five seconds from shouting back or walking out of there in a fit of anger. “I just need you to back off.” He finally settles on saying, the tension rising in his chest and somehow he longs to close the gap between them and feel the warmth of her body against his and her kisses against his skin, along with the gentle kicking of their daughter against his body whilst simultaneously wanting to be alone.

“And I would if I felt that was what you needed or if it would help…” Just when he thought the self-loathing couldn’t worsen, he can hear the tears in her voice and it only causes the air to grow tighter and warmer around him. “I’m sorry that your dad went to the station and said all those… horrible things about you in front of the people you love but you know none of it is true, right? And I know you’re probably really embarrassed right now and that’s okay but don’t push me away.” It’s Maddie who closes the gap between them and for a second he remembers when she could wrap her arms around him and he’d feel her heart beating against his chest and how much comfort her hot breath against the crook of his neck would bring him. Now she’s stopped by the large bump that hits him first and he knows that she knows she’s won when she’s pouting at him and he lets out a small sigh.

“I’m sorry.” He finally mumbles, hands easily sliding down to her bump and he wonders if his own father had shown his mother any affection at all when she was carrying him. He finds himself wondering, and not for the first time, when it became clear to the eldest Han that he was nothing but a disappointment in his eyes as he had so eloquently put it earlier that day.

Chimney finds his cheeks flushing with the embarrassment of the memory, biting down on his lip as he looks at his girlfriend. Being screamed at by his own father, at forty-three, in the middle of the station, in front of some of his favourite people, was definitely one of the low points of his life and he’d had many of those. He finds himself leaning into the gentle touch of her hand on his cheek, doing everything he can to hold back the tears when he looks into her eyes.

“Nothing to be sorry for, you’re just hurting but you’re not alone. If someone hurts _you_ , they hurt me and this little one, so let us be there for you, please?” He gulps down the lump in his throat, fingers brushing over the fabric of her top when he tilts his head down to look between them, silently promising his daughter that he would never humiliate her.

“O-okay.” He mumbles, leaning forward as much as he can to brush his nose against hers, until their foreheads are pressed together, finally letting the tears fall as her thumb brushes against the back of his neck, feeling the movement of their daughter against his stomach as Maddie presses her body even closer to his. “I’m sorry, it’s stupid, shouldn’t let him get to me.”

“You’re human, Howie. It’s okay, you’re okay.”


End file.
